Liquid supply apparatus and liquid ejecting apparatus

Abstract

Provided is a liquid supply apparatus including a liquid supply path which supplies a liquid from an upstream side, which is a liquid supply source, to a downstream side in which the liquid is consumed; a defoaming chamber which is provided in the liquid supply path and defoams air bubbles included in the liquid; and a depressurization chamber which is provided at a position adjacent to the defoaming chamber with a partition wall interposed therebetween and is depressurized such that the pressure thereof becomes lower than the pressure of the defoaming chamber, wherein the partition wall allows permeation of gas by the depressurization of the depressurization chamber and restricts permeation of the liquid, and wherein an air bubble integrating portion which collects the air bubbles included in the liquid is provided in the defoaming chamber.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-319817, filed Dec. 11, 2007 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-224151, filed Sep. 1, 2008 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-305009, filed Nov. 28, 2008 are expressly incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus such as an ink jet printer and a liquid supply apparatus including the liquid ejecting apparatus.RELATED ART[0003]Generally, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting an ink (liquid) from nozzles of a recording head (liquid ejecting head) toward a target and, for example, an ink jet printer (hereinafter, referred to as a “printer”) is widely used. In such a printer, if air bubbles are generated in the ink ejected from the recording head, a printing failure such as dot missing may be caused. Accordingly, a printer capable of degassing (eliminating) gas dissolved in the ink such that the printing failure can be suppresse...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention provides a liquid supply apparatus and a liquid ejecting apparatus that efficiently defoams air bubbles in a liquid. The apparatus includes a defoaming chamber and a depressurization chamber with a partition wall between them. The partition wall has gas permeability higher than the other portion of the partition wall and rigidity higher than the other portion, allowing air bubbles to move from the defoaming chamber to the depressurization chamber. The apparatus also includes an air bubble integrating portion that collects air bubbles and a depressurization chamber that is depressurized to create a lower pressure than the defoaming chamber, allowing air bubbles to move from the defoaming chamber to the depressurization chamber. The apparatus can efficiently defoam air bubbles in a liquid and is useful in liquid supply and ejection applications.

Problems solved by technology

In such a printer, if air bubbles are generated in the ink ejected from the recording head, a printing failure such as dot missing may be caused.

However, in the printer of JP-A-2006-95878, if the gas is included in the ink contained in the common liquid chamber in a state of being dispersed, the efficiency of degassing the gas located at a farther position from the gas permeable film may deteriorate.

Even when the depressurization for degassing the gas dissolved in the ink cannot be sufficiently performed like the printer of JP-A-2006-95878, the degassing efficiency may deteriorate.

Accordingly, the air bubbles staying in the defoaming chamber are susceptible to be defoamed to the depressurization chamber via the partition by the pressure difference between the defoaming chamber and the depressurization chamber.

By this configuration, since the air bubbles staying in the defoaming chamber move to the partition along the slope surface, the air bubbles included in the defoaming chamber are susceptible to be collected in the air bubble integrating portion.

Since the air bubbles suspended in the liquid contained in the defoaming chamber move by the flow of the liquid, the air bubbles are susceptible to stay in the vicinity of the outlet.

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